Academic literature on the topic 'Education, Higher Education, Higher School enrollment College students'

Project Lead the Way (PLTW) is a hands-on, project-based engineering curriculum for high school and middle school students, which has quadrupled annual enrollment in Texas in five years to over 23,000 students. The diversity of students participating has also increased dramatically. Using six years of longitudinally-linked student data, the academic outcomes of cohorts of PLTW students were compared to matched cohorts of non-PLTW students. Matching was based on Grade 8 state math assessment scores and demographic and program participation variables. Findings show that PLTW students scored significantly higher on the state’s Grade 11 mathematics assessment, a higher percentage met the college-ready criterion, a higher percentage enrolled in Texas higher education institutions, and the non-college-bound PLTW students earned higher wages.

Low college enrollment rates among low-income students may stem from a combination of credit constraints, low academic skill, and low-quality schools. Recent Massachusetts data allow the first use of school district fixed effects in the analysis of credit constraints, leading to four findings. First, low-income students in Massachusetts have lower intended college enrollment rates than higher income students but also have dramatically lower skills and attend lower-quality school districts. Second, inclusion of skill controls greatly reduces but does not eliminate this intended enrollment gap. Third, inclusion of school district fixed effects has little further impact, with low-income students eight percentage points less likely to intend enrollment than higher income students of the same skill and from the same school district. Fourth, medium- and high-skilled low-income students appear the most constrained. State governments could use the methods employed here to target financial aid more efficiently.

With a postsecondary credential essential to finding a good job but the cost of college beyond the means of many families, a growing number of high schools are offering their students a powerful head start on higher education. About 1.3 million U.S. teens participate in dual enrollment, up from 680,000 when the century began. Critics worry that this trend could lead to an erosion of college standards, but the evidence to date has been entirely positive. Researchers have found that dual enrollment has strong effects on high school graduation, college enrollment, and college completion, particularly for low-income youth and others underrepresented in higher education.

Valdosta State University and the Valdosta City Schools (Valdosta, GA) partnered in 2008 to form the Valdosta Early College Academy (VECA). VECA epitomizes the early college concept of (a) admitting underperforming students with multiple risk factors for dropping out of school (e.g., low socioeconomic status, minority, and first-generation high school or college) and (b) providing college level dual enrollment courses. VECA is very different than nearly every other early college school in the nation. Most (85%) of the 200 early colleges currently operating in the United States begin with students in the 9th grade. Nearly all of the remaining early colleges begin with 7th grade; only a few are 6–12-grade schools. VECA targets two primary priorities, (a) innovations that complement the implementation of higher standards and high-quality assessments and (b) innovations that support college access and success. The primary purpose of this paper is to chronicle the genesis and development of VECA. This program is very successful, replete with research opportunities, and represents a model early college program. We plan to continue to grow VECA to ultimately include grades six through twelve and to research that growth and development.

There continues to be a shortage of qualified graduates for agriculture jobs within the United States. One reason for this shortage is the decline in student enrollment in colleges of agriculture. One tool that can increase college preparation for future graduates and help students succeed is the agriculture dual-enrollment program. Dual enrollment allows high-school students to take courses while dually enrolled in a corresponding college course. The program was found to have a positive impact on students taking more rigorous courses and gaining in-depth knowledge of agriculture. Teachers felt that this program helped in establishing higher standards in coursework and in feeling satisfied about their job. It enhanced prestige and program reputation. Dual enrollment was seen to have little to no impact on school counselors. Research focused on the pedagogical approaches of these course offerings will benefit the creation of future high-quality dual credit courses.

Advising students for success in higher education has always been an important and challenging task. This becomes even more critical nowadays as most higher education institutions are trying to boost their enrollment and improve their retention so that they can be self-sufficient financially and sustainable economically. Research studies on student advising in higher education are abundant. A comprehensive literature review, however, shows that these research studies tend to be myopic in scope and quantitative in methodology. In this research, we attempt to depict a holistic view of an all-out effort on advising students for success, by describing practical approaches and collecting relevant narratives at four levels, including university, college, department, and faculty. It is our hope that this research can help people—whether they are school administrators, faculty members, or college students—have a holistic view of student advising and be successful in their role in higher education.

Even as the number of Latina/o students going to college has increased in recent years, Latino male students continue to face barriers in accessing America’s institutions of higher education, a topic that remains complex and understudied. Using national survey data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009, we sought to understand the role of high school counselors in increasing Latino male college enrollment. Results suggest that Latino male college enrollment increased when high school counselors provided a higher degree of financial aid preparation. We discuss implications for practice tailored to high school counselors.

This research examines the effects of state laws banning access to in-state resident tuition for unauthorized immigrant students in the United States. These laws were implemented between 2005 and 2012. We evaluate the policy effects on (a) college enrollment, (b) school dropout rates of unauthorized immigrants, and (c) the enrollment of U.S. citizens in higher education. Multivariate triple-differences models are used. We find significant negative effects on the college attendance rates of unauthorized immigrants. Policies have primarily affected recent high school graduates. With regard to dropping out of school, we find no evidence of dynamic effects. Nor do we find evidence of benefits in college attendance for non-Hispanic, Hispanic, or Mexican naturalized citizens.

This article provides an explicit framework for evaluating the expected benefit to college-bound students of courses offered by Advanced Placement (AP) versus concurrent enrollment programs (CEP). District personnel can use it to assess the relative merits of these programs, given the characteristics of their students, in deciding which model to implement or maintain. Simulations reveal that CEP generally provides a higher expected benefit for districts where students who take the course attend private colleges or universities (including public institutions out of state) and perform on the AP exam around national norms. AP favors high schools where students taking the course either face inexpensive costs for study at institutions of higher education or perform exceptionally well on the AP exam. Information from a sample of 240 colleges and universities reveals that few explicitly reject AP or CEP for credit if the student meets a minimum criterion, although more information is provided for AP.

Several national and international assessments have demonstrated that there has been little improvement in the performance of American high school students in recent decades. High school students are increasingly underprepared for transition into college-level course-work. One new approach to high school redesign, “early college,” seeks to address these issues. The model features a rigorous academic course of study that engages students in college-level work in grades nine through fourteen. Early college is a subset of dual enrollment programs providing opportunities for students to complete high school and college credits with the same courses. The goal is to prepare students academically for college-level coursework while easing the transition to higher education. Early college offers promise in directly addressing student academic performance, attrition rates, and readiness for college, but further research is needed to determine its efficacy and scalability.

This study examined an aspect of enrollment management at a private liberal arts college. Factors related to enrollment decisions of students accepted for admission to Milligan College were analyzed by comparing two groups: matriculants and nonmatriculants. The population consisted of 438 traditional-age applicants for the 1995 fall semester. Data were collected from the application for admission, financial aid application, and a survey instrument designed to obtain information relative to influences on the enrollment decision. The Purposes of the research were to determine if significant differences existed between the two groups and to identify the characteristics of the students most likely to enroll at the college. Analyses were conducted by calculating measures of central tendency, the chi-square test of significance, the independent t-test for equality of means, and multiple linear regression. Among the variables considered were financial aid resources, academic achievement, distance from the campus, church affiliation, attendance by relatives, and campus visit. Subjects were also asked an open-ended question on the survey regarding the primary reasons for their decisions. Major findings revealed significant differences between matriculants and nonmatriculants with respect to completion of the financial aid award process, church affiliation, scholarships and grants received, ACT scores, and campus visit. The survey respondents identified as primary reasons for a decision to enroll, the Christian atmosphere, programs of study available, and quality academics. Primary reasons for a decision not to enroll included, distance from the college, high cost, and the desired program of study was not available. Based on the results of the research the following recommendations were made. Steps should be taken to ensure completion of the financial aid award process is a high priority for all applicants. Scholarships and grants should be awarded at the optimum level for each qualified applicant. Recruiting efforts should focus on those areas, geographically and demographically, in which the prospects who are most likely to enroll can be identified, based on selected characteristics.

<p> The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to determine the relationship between dual enrollment (DE) participation and college persistence among 399 high-school students enrolled in the five campuses of a state college in southeastern Florida from Fall 2010 to Fall 2012 using archived student records. Multiple regression was used to examine the correlation between college persistence and DE credits earned, GPA earned in DE courses, and algebra grades and to determine which variable was the greatest predictor of college persistence. The results of the study indicated that there was a significant but small correlation between DE participation and college persistence. Using analysis of variance, the result showed that there was a significant difference between the college persistence of DE and non-DE students. DE students had a mean college persistence score higher than non-DE students. The results of the study using Pearson correlation also showed that there was no significant correlation between GPA earned in DE courses and college persistence. No significant correlation between algebra grades and college persistence was found. The most important result of this study indicated that there was a highly significant correlation between a student&rsquo;s DE credits earned and his or her college persistence and the best predictor of college persistence was the DE credits earned. Based on these findings, more research is required to investigate how DE and non-DE students compare in terms of the relationship between the variables GPA, DE credits earned, algebra grades, and college persistence. </p>

This investigation was a post-hoc, quantitative analysis of secondary academic performance and participation choices of Hispanic students. Three years of longitudinal student-level data was collected to examine the likelihood of college enrollment based on college and career readiness (CCR) factors. At the time of the study, CCR was defined as qualifying exam scores, credit for at least two advanced/dual enrollment courses, or enrollment in a career and technology education (CTE) coherent sequence of courses. Research participants (N = 803) consisted solely of Hispanic high school graduates from the 2014 cohort. Frequency statistics indicate 45.5% (n = 365) attended an institute of higher education (IHE) within 2 years of high school graduation. Findings reveal Hispanic females were more likely than Hispanic males to meet CCR indicators as well as postsecondary resiliency outcomes. Analysis of chi-square tests of independence suggests a moderately strong association exists between CCR indicators and postsecondary participation among high school graduates. Differences were found in terms of gender and postsecondary enrollment, x^2(6) = 24.538, p < .001. Differences were also found in terms of type of IHE and postsecondary resiliency, x^2(3) = 34.373, p < .001. More Hispanic CCR graduates enrolled at 2-year and 4-year IHE than expected by chance. While non-CCR graduates enrolled in IHE, they were less likely to meet postsecondary resiliency outcomes. CCR graduates who initially enrolled at 2-year IHE were also less likely to persist. Furthermore, the greatest contribution to differences in resiliency existed for Hispanic CCR graduates who enroll at 4-year IHE.

This applied dissertation explored dual enrollment viability when compared to other acceleration mechanisms: (a) advanced placement, (b) advanced international certificate of education, (c) international baccalaureate, and (d) college-level examination program. This multicase, qualitative study explored the competitiveness of dual enrollment versus other acceleration mechanism using Porter’s model and the strengthsweaknessesopportunities- threats analysis as the theoretical frameworks. The study used one-on-one interviews to gather primary comparative information. Five groups were interviewed: (a) the vendors of the acceleration mechanisms, (b) state education officials, (c) district personnel, (d) high school representatives, and (e) higher education representatives. The acceleration mechanisms’ educational objectives, their positioning, and any acceleration mechanisms’ benefits to the various stakeholders were examined. Dual enrollment was compared to the other acceleration mechanisms to develop recommendations for improving the competitive positioning and viability of dual enrollment in Florida. The study found that acceleration-mechanism options were complex and dynamic programs that were highly influenced by government policies and funding. Educational entities viewed the value of acceleration mechanisms differently, especially dual enrollment. All groups agreed that acceleration mechanisms provided rigorous curriculum for high school students to prepare for college. However, educational entities first wanted to protect their own interests and funding. In terms of dual enrollment, financial considerations remained a substantial motivation for the program. The study showed that all acceleration mechanisms offered benefits to participating students. However, the multifaceted and ever-changing nature of acceleration mechanisms provided no clear advantages or benefits for dual enrollment versus other acceleration mechanisms. Several recommendations are made that addressed concerns about the longterm value of dual enrollment for Florida institutions and students.

This study sought to determine the ways in which Texas public school districts differ in their calculation of Grade Point Average/Rank in Class (GPA/RIC), how district size affects weighting practices, and the effect of non-uniform calculation of GPA/RIC on admissions to college. Descriptive and non-parametric analysis techniques were used.

AbstractThe practice of educating students in college-level science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) subjects is influenced by many factors, including education research, governmental and school policies, financial considerations, technology limitations, and acceptance of innovations by faculty and students. Working together, stakeholders in STEM higher education must find creative ways to address the increasing need for a diverse US workforce with a strong STEM background (President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology 2012) and the need for a more STEM-literate general population (National Research Council 2012).

Achievement gaps are responsible for low high school graduation rates, low college enrollments, low college graduation rates, and lack of job readiness. Because many of today's high school students are not college ready, there is the need for developmental education in community colleges. Approximately 60% of high school graduates need to take remedial education courses before they can take credit bearing classes, and 76% of high school graduates do not meet ACT college readiness benchmarks. Dual enrollment is one way to address this issue. Opportunities to extend college credits to interested high school students have been increasing as an intervention strategy in preparing students for college, improving graduation rates, and reducing the time of college completion.

This chapter explores the educational choices of immigrants and how the issue of legal or immigration status contributes to social inequality in the United States classrooms and institutions of higher learning. Immigrants within U.S. population have increased dramatically, yet their educational attainment remains small in comparison to native-born Americans. Although large numbers of immigrant students graduate from high school, their path to higher education remains difficulty with fewer getting college degrees. Drawing on literature from multiple disciplines, the issue of immigration status in relation to immigrant education is examined. The chapter recommends the adoption of immigration reform legislations that create better pathways to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and progressive educational provisions. This chapter benefits immigrants and educational leaders in institutions of higher learning.

With the rapid development of higher education, how to innovate management means and ensure the quality of education is an urgent problem faced by higher education management. The paper focuses on a large number of data that include students’ enrollment performance, family status, lessons performance, volunteer service, competition, rewards and punishments, social practice, etc. And it puts forward an education quality monitoring means that uses knowledge graph to reveal students’ development and can guide the development of students according to the needs of local talents. The means includes three parts: the current situation of students’ development, the early warning of development and the guidance of development. Finally, taking the postgraduate education in School of Information Science and Technology, North China University of Technology as an example, it demonstrates the feasibility and effectiveness of the means.

Between 1950 and 1980, state and federal funding made higher education a major component of American society in terms of the number of institutions, students, and faculty members; the range of academic and professional programs; and the capital investment and expenditures. Medical schools also grew from small, narrowly based institutions that educated undergraduate medical students to large academic medical centers that provided a wide range of educational, research, and patientcare activities. The schools changed their internal structures by replacing part-time faculty members with full-time faculty and restricting clinicians' private practices to the medical school. Their independent sources of funding and autonomy affected relations with their parent universities, affiliated health schools, and the community. The most distinctive feature of higher education after mid-century has been its greater accessibility to students. The number of degree-credit enrolled college students increased from 2.7 million in 1949 to 5.9 million in 1965, 11.2 million in 1975, and 12.4 million in 1982. Between 1950 and 1982, the proportion of the 25- to 29-year-old population who had completed four or more years of college rose from 7.7 percent to 21.7 percent, even though the number of persons in that age group increased by two-thirds. The most rapid growth in higher education occurred from the late 1950s to the mid-1970s, when total degree-credit enrollment tripled. From 1975 to the early 1980s, three-fourths of the growth has been due to part-time students. The greater accessibility of higher education has especially benefited those groups of students who had low rates of college attendance at mid-century. The number of women students increased from 0.8 million in 1949 to 6.4 million in 1981, while the number of men increased from 1.9 million to 6.0 million. Between 1950 and 1982, the proportion of blacks 25 to 29 years of age who had completed four or more years of college increased from 2.8 percent to 15.8 percent. In 1979, blacks accounted for 10.5 percent of high school graduates and 10.0 percent of college enrollees. In the same year, hispanics accounted for 4.3 percent of high school graduates and 4.2 percent of college enrollees. Changes have occurred in the academic status of many students.

During the last half of the nineteenth century, medical schools grew significantly in number and enrollments, as did all institutions of higher education. Many medical schools added optional fall and spring sessions to compete with the private courses and provide additional training for their students. Faculty members were appointed in the clinical specialties, which led to the expansion of the curriculum to include courses in the specialties and the replacement of the repetitive course with a graded one. After the Civil War, enrollments in higher education grew significantly, especially in professional schools. The number of students enrolled in all institutions of higher education increased from 32,000 in 1860 to 256,000 in 1900. The 1860 enrollments, which consisted almost entirely of men, comprised 3.1 percent of the white male population between 18 and 21 years of age. The 1900 enrollments, which included many women in colleges and normal schools, comprised 5.0 percent of the white male and female population between 18 and 21 years of age. In 1860, 51 percent of the students were enrolled in colleges and universities, 44 percent in medical, law, and theological schools, and 6 percent in normal schools. In 1900, 41 percent were enrolled in colleges, 33 percent in professional schools, and 27 percent in normal schools. A higher standard of living and greater access to education led many students to enter college directly from secondary school, according to a study of 20,000 graduates of 11 well-established colleges. The study found that the median age at graduation, between 22 and 23 years, changed very little between the late eighteenth century and 1900, but that the range of ages became smaller over the period. This indicated that students had more preliminary education and were less likely to delay attending college. The admission standards of the colleges remained low. Most did not require a high school diploma. Entrance requirements included Latin and mathematics, plus Greek for admission to the classical course. Equivalents were widely accepted. Most students did not meet even these requirements.

As universities recognize that an entrepreneurial education is an enabler, entrepreneurship is increasingly recognized as higher education’s ally. Today, more than 5,000 entrepreneurship courses are offered in over 2,000 college and universities in the United States (U.S.) (Kauffman, 2009). Entrepreneurship education is extending beyond its traditional business school offerings to engineering, arts, and sciences schools as educators develop specialized, experiential content most relevant to their student populations. The Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (Mtech), a unit of the A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland, is a global leader in entrepreneurship education (Barbe, Green, &amp; Chang, 2010). Mtech’s award-winning programs are being replicated throughout the U.S. and abroad to serve entrepreneurial students in pursuit of new ventures. Mtech’s entrepreneurship courses and programs have more than 1,000 student enrollments annually. This chapter introduces Mtech’s approach to entrepreneurship education, defines the inner workings of Mtech’s entrepreneurship education initiatives, and discusses best practices and lessons learned.

No analysis of the history of the community college movement in Massachusetts can begin without a discussion of some of the peculiar features of higher education in that state. Indeed, the development of all public colleges in Massachusetts was, for many years, inhibited by the strength of the state’s private institutions (Lustberg 1979, Murphy 1974, Stafford 1980). The Protestant establishment had strong traditional ties to elite colleges—such as Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Williams, and Amherst—and the Catholic middle class felt equally strong bonds to the two Jesuit institutions in the state: Boston College and Holy Cross (Jencks and Riesman 1968, p. 263). If they had gone to college at all, most of Massachusetts’s state legislators had done so in the private system. Private college loyalties were not the only reasons for opposition to public higher education. Increased state spending for any purpose was often an anathema to many Republican legislators, and even most urban “machine” Democrats were unwilling to spend state dollars where the private sector appeared to work well enough (Stafford and Lustberg 1978). As late as 1950, the commonwealth’s public higher education sector served fewer than ten thousand students, just over 10 percent of total state enrollments in higher education. In 1960, public enrollment had grown to only 16 percent of the total, at a time when 59 percent of college students nationwide were enrolled in public institutions (Stafford and Lustberg 1978, p. 12). Indeed, the public sector did not reach parity with the private sector until the 1980s. Of the 15,945 students enrolled in Massachusetts public higher education in 1960, well over 95 percent were in-state students. The private schools, by contrast, cast a broader net: of the nearly 83,000 students enrolled in the private schools, more than 40 percent were from out of state (Organization for Social and Technical Innovation 1973). The opposition to public higher education began to recede in the late 1950s. Already by mid-decade, a large number of urban liberals had become members of the state legislature, and a new governor, Foster Furcolo, had been elected in 1956 on an activist platform.

When is Schooling Complete? At the beginning of the twentieth century most Americans believed they had “completed” their schooling if they finished the eighth grade. Only 6 percent of young people then graduated from high school. Eighth-grade graduation was a major celebration, particularly in rural neighborhoods, with the newly recognized scholars feted and dressed in their best as the photograph of my father’s 1908 Ottertail County, Minnesota, eighth-grade class illustrates. In 1955 a ninth-grade student in my homeroom, when queried how far her father had gone in school, replied confidently, “all the way.” That meant high school graduation in the Deep Creek, Virginia, neighborhood. By the end of the twentieth century, however, that definition had changed radically. “Completing schooling” now means some college at a minimum, with about 66 percent of high school graduates now attending, and increasingly it has meant acquiring a post-graduate degree. These changing expectations for what is considered sufficient schooling have dramatically altered American views of higher education. Once thought the domain of the very few (less than 2 percent of the age group in 1900) and largely peripheral to the economy, colleges and universities occupied a very different position at the beginning of the twenty-first century. They now appeal to a mass population, and they constitute a crucial link in the economy through their research and development activities. Furthermore, unlike 1900 when few foreigners would ever have considered coming to the United States to study, they now attract both students and faculty from all over the world, including some of the most gifted and ambitious. The range of these institutions from the leading research universities, which remain among the best in the world, to “open enrollment” institutions (with no requirements for admission other than paying the tuition), which provide unparalleled access to higher education, is extraordinary. Today the academic overlap between some of the best high schools and some undergraduate institutions is considerable, with high school juniors and seniors flourishing in college classes.

Harvard’s nine professional schools were on the cutting edge of its evolution from a Brahmin to a meritocratic university. Custom, tradition, and the evergreen memory of the alumni weighed less heavily on them than on the College. And the professions they served were more interested in their current quality than their past glory. True, major differences of size, standing, wealth, and academic clout separated Harvard’s Brobdingnagian professional faculties—the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and the Schools of Medicine, Law, and Business— from the smaller, weaker Lilliputs—Public Health and Dentistry, Divinity, Education, Design, Public Administration. But these schools had a shared goal of professional training that ultimately gave them more in common with one another than with the College and made them the closest approximation of Conant’s meritocratic ideal. Harvard’s doctoral programs in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) were a major source of its claim to academic preeminence. As the Faculty of Arts and Sciences became more research and discipline minded, so grew the importance of graduate education. A 1937 ranking of graduate programs in twenty-eight fields—the lower the total score, the higher the overall standing—provided a satisfying measure of Harvard’s place in the American university pecking order: But there were problems. Money was short, and while graduate student enrollment held up during the Depression years of the early 1930s (what else was there for a young college graduate to do?), academic jobs became rare indeed. Between 1926–27 and 1935–36, Yale appointed no Harvard Ph.D. to a junior position. The Graduate School itself was little more than a degree-granting instrument, with no power to appoint faculty, no building, no endowment, and no budget beyond one for its modest administrative costs. Graduate students identified with their departments, not the Graduate School. Needless to say, the GSAS deanship did not attract the University’s ablest men. Conant in 1941 appointed a committee to look into graduate education, and historian Arthur M. Schlesinger, Sr., “called for a thoroughgoing study without blinders.

Aim/Purpose: This paper provides the results of the preliminary analysis of the findings of an ongoing study that seeks to examine the social media use, cultural and political awareness, civic engagement, issue prioritization, and social activism of Gen Z students enrolled at four different institutional types located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. The aim of this study is to look at the group as a whole as well as compare findings across populations. The institutional types under consideration include a mid-sized majority serving or otherwise referred to as a traditionally white institution (TWI) located in a small coastal city on the Atlantic Ocean, a small Historically Black University (HBCU) located in a rural area, a large community college located in a county that is a mixture of rural and suburban and which sits on the border of Maryland and Pennsylvania, and graduating high school students enrolled in career and technical education (CTE) programs in a large urban area. This exploration is purposed to examine the behaviors and expectations of Gen Z students within a representative American region during a time of tremendous turmoil and civil unrest in the United States. Background: Over 74 million strong, Gen Z makes up almost one-quarter of the U.S. population. They already outnumber any current living generation and are the first true digital natives. Born after 1996 and through 2012, they are known for their short attention spans and heightened ability to multi-task. Raised in the age of the smart phone, they have been tethered to digital devices from a young age with most having the preponderance of their childhood milestones commemorated online. Often called Zoomers, they are more racially and ethnically diverse than any previous generation and are on track to be the most well-educated generation in history. Gen Zers in the United States have been found in the research to be progressive and pro-government and viewing increasing racial and ethnic diversity as positive change. Finally, they are less likely to hold xenophobic beliefs such as the notion of American exceptionalism and superiority that have been popular with by prior generations. The United States has been in a period of social and civil unrest in recent years with concerns over systematic racism, rampant inequalities, political polarization, xenophobia, police violence, sexual assault and harassment, and the growing epidemic of gun violence. Anxieties stirred by the COVID-19 pandemic further compounded these issues resulting in a powder keg explosion occurring throughout the summer of 2020 and leading well into 2021. As a result, the United States has deteriorated significantly in the Civil Unrest Index falling from 91st to 34th. The vitriol, polarization, protests, murders, and shootings have all occurred during Gen Z’s formative years, and the limited research available indicates that it has shaped their values and political views. Methodology: The Mid-Atlantic region is a portion of the United States that exists as the overlap between the northeastern and southeastern portions of the country. It includes the nation’s capital, as well as large urban centers, small cities, suburbs, and rural enclaves. It is one of the most socially, economically, racially, and culturally diverse parts of the United States and is often referred to as the “typically American region.” An electronic survey was administered to students from 2019 through 2021 attending a high school dual enrollment program, a minority serving institution, a majority serving institution, and a community college all located within the larger mid-Atlantic region. The survey included a combination of multiple response, Likert scaled, dichotomous, open ended, and ordinal questions. It was developed in the Survey Monkey system and reviewed by several content and methodological experts in order to examine bias, vagueness, or potential semantic problems. Finally, the survey was pilot tested prior to implementation in order to explore the efficacy of the research methodology. It was then modified accordingly prior to widespread distribution to potential participants. The surveys were administered to students enrolled in classes taught by the authors all of whom are educators. Participation was voluntary, optional, and anonymous. Over 800 individuals completed the survey with just over 700 usable results, after partial completes and the responses of individuals outside of the 18-24 age range were removed. Findings: Participants in this study overwhelmingly were users of social media. In descending order, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, WhatsApp, LinkedIn and Tik Tok were the most popular social media services reported as being used. When volume of use was considered, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube and Twitter were the most cited with most participants reporting using Instagram and Snapchat multiple times a day. When asked to select which social media service they would use if forced to choose just one, the number one choice was YouTube followed by Instagram and Snapchat. Additionally, more than half of participants responded that they have uploaded a video to a video sharing site such as YouTube or Tik Tok. When asked about their familiarity with different technologies, participants overwhelmingly responded that they are “very familiar” with smart phones, searching the Web, social media, and email. About half the respondents said that they were “very familiar” with common computer applications such as the Microsoft Office Suite or Google Suite with another third saying that they were “somewhat familiar.” When asked about Learning Management Systems (LMS) like Blackboard, Course Compass, Canvas, Edmodo, Moodle, Course Sites, Google Classroom, Mindtap, Schoology, Absorb, D2L, itslearning, Otus, PowerSchool, or WizIQ, only 43% said they were “very familiar” with 31% responding that they were “somewhat familiar.” Finally, about half the students were either “very” or “somewhat” familiar with operating systems such as Windows. A few preferences with respect to technology in the teaching and learning process were explored in the survey. Most students (85%) responded that they want course announcements and reminders sent to their phones, 76% expect their courses to incorporate the use of technology, 71% want their courses to have course websites, and 71% said that they would rather watch a video than read a book chapter. When asked to consider the future, over 81% or respondents reported that technology will play a major role in their future career. Most participants considered themselves “informed” or “well informed” about current events although few considered themselves “very informed” or “well informed” about politics. When asked how they get their news, the most common forum reported for getting news and information about current events and politics was social media with 81% of respondents reporting. Gen Z is known to be an engaged generation and the participants in this study were not an exception. As such, it came as no surprise to discover that, in the past year more than 78% of respondents had educated friends or family about an important social or political issue, about half (48%) had donated to a cause of importance to them, more than a quarter (26%) had participated in a march or rally, and a quarter (26%) had actively boycotted a product or company. Further, about 37% consider themselves to be a social activist with another 41% responding that aren’t sure if they would consider themselves an activist and only 22% saying that they would not consider themselves an activist. When asked what issues were important to them, the most frequently cited were Black Lives Matter (75%), human trafficking (68%), sexual assault/harassment/Me Too (66.49%), gun violence (65.82%), women’s rights (65.15%), climate change (55.4%), immigration reform/deferred action for childhood arrivals (DACA) (48.8%), and LGBTQ+ rights (47.39%). When the schools were compared, there were only minor differences in social media use with the high school students indicating slightly more use of Tik Tok than the other participants. All groups were virtually equal when it came to how informed they perceived themselves about current events and politics. Consensus among groups existed with respect to how they get their news, and the community college and high school students were slightly more likely to have participated in a march, protest, or rally in the last 12 months than the university students. The community college and high school students were also slightly more likely to consider themselves social activists than the participants from either of the universities. When the importance of the issues was considered, significant differences based on institutional type were noted. Black Lives Matter (BLM) was identified as important by the largest portion of students attending the HBCU followed by the community college students and high school students. Less than half of the students attending the TWI considered BLM an important issue. Human trafficking was cited as important by a higher percentage of students attending the HBCU and urban high school than at the suburban and rural community college or the TWI. Sexual assault was considered important by the majority of students at all the schools with the percentage a bit smaller from the majority serving institution. About two thirds of the students at the high school, community college, and HBCU considered gun violence important versus about half the students at the majority serving institution. Women’s rights were reported as being important by more of the high school and HBCU participants than the community college or TWI. Climate change was considered important by about half the students at all schools with a slightly smaller portion reporting out the HBCU. Immigration reform/DACA was reported as important by half the high school, community college, and HBCU participants with only a third of the students from the majority serving institution citing it as an important issue. With respect to LGBTQ rights approximately half of the high school and community college participants cited it as important, 44.53% of the HBCU students, and only about a quarter of the students attending the majority serving institution. Contribution and Conclusion: This paper provides a timely investigation into the mindset of generation Z students living in the United States during a period of heightened civic unrest. This insight is useful to educators who should be informed about the generation of students that is currently populating higher education. The findings of this study are consistent with public opinion polls by Pew Research Center. According to the findings, the Gen Z students participating in this study are heavy users of multiple social media, expect technology to be integrated into teaching and learning, anticipate a future career where technology will play an important role, informed about current and political events, use social media as their main source for getting news and information, and fairly engaged in social activism. When institutional type was compared the students from the university with the more affluent and less diverse population were less likely to find social justice issues important than the other groups. Recommendations for Practitioners: During disruptive and contentious times, it is negligent to think that the abounding issues plaguing society are not important to our students. Gauging the issues of importance and levels of civic engagement provides us crucial information towards understanding the attitudes of students. Further, knowing how our students gain information, their social media usage, as well as how informed they are about current events and political issues can be used to more effectively communicate and educate. Recommendations for Researchers: As social media continues to proliferate daily life and become a vital means of news and information gathering, additional studies such as the one presented here are needed. Additionally, in other countries facing similarly turbulent times, measuring student interest, awareness, and engagement is highly informative. Impact on Society: During a highly contentious period replete with a large volume of civil unrest and compounded by a global pandemic, understanding the behaviors and attitudes of students can help us as higher education faculty be more attuned when it comes to the design and delivery of curriculum. Future Research This presentation presents preliminary findings. Data is still being collected and much more extensive statistical analyses will be performed.

This presentation will discuss some of the current statistics regarding distance education in the United States. It will also address how student disabilities (and their associated accommodations) are and should be impacting these online course offerings. According to a recent government study, 66% of US colleges currently offer some form of for-credit distance education (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2008). In 2007 more than 20% of higher education students were enrolled in at least one online course, and the 2007 online enrollments were 245% that of the online enrollment seen in 2002 (Allen &amp; Seaman, 2008). These educational studies have revealed what most educators already knew: online education is becoming increasingly important to colleges nationwide. The number of online courses continues to increase, and larger numbers of students are taking significant portions of their coursework online. Students reporting disabilities (and requesting accommodation) have also been increasing. Eleven percent of undergraduates have reported or registered as having a disability (NCES, 2006). The 11% statistic suggests that at least 2.2% of the online student population are also students with disabilities, and that 2.2% is likely to be too low because the flexibly offered by online courses is likely to appeal to students with disabilities. Ensuring accessibility in online courses, therefore, is clearly a practical consideration. Education studies have also revealed that some schools aren’t doing all that they can or should to ensure accessibility. Schools were asked how commonly they received requests for academic accommodation. Nearly a quarter of the schools responding didn’t know whether or not requests of this type were ever received (NCES, 2008). Another study tracked how closely accessibility guidelines for online course web sites were followed. Nearly half of the schools reported only moderate to minor application of the guidelines while over one-third of the schools either didn’t follow any of the guidelines or were unaware if guidelines were being followed (NCES, 2003).

An engineering Summer Bridge (Engineering Summer Readiness Workshop after 2015) program has been implemented at the University of Texas at Brownsville (UTB) since summer 2012. After three years of program data accumulation, we can now track those participants from their freshman up to junior year (for those still active in UTB engineering) and further extend our study on the effect of the designed engineering summer program on a) the semester the participants take Calculus I; b) the semester the participants pass Calculus I; c) the first- and second-year engineering active rate; and d) the success rate in the selected engineering major courses of all the participants. We compared all the above mentioned data to the average data of the engineering majors at the same academic stage/level. The engineering summer bridge program was originally designed to prepare the fresh high school graduates intellectually on their math and for an early readiness for their coming engineering study. More than 90% of the targeted students are Hispanic in south Texas, and English is the second language for 86% of them. As one of the components of the University of Texas System, UTB is a minority-serving institution catering mostly to the underrepresented Hispanic population of the Lower Rio Grande Valley region. It has one of the highest concentrations of Hispanic students (both in number and percentage) compared to other universities in the nation [Table 1]. Among the overall student enrollment at the university in fall 2013, 91% are Hispanic. Most of the targeted students are academically below the top 10% in their high school graduating classes due to the pre-selection of the top 10% students by the Texas flagship universities. First-generation college-goers experience a variety of challenges as they enter and move through higher education. The Engineering Summer Bridge provides students with specific types of resources and support to ensure that they move into and through engineering study smoothly and to shorten the time for their engineering study. The 4–5 week summer bridge program at UTB intensively enhances math preparation in pre-calculus and college algebra, and also actively engages the students with the modern engineering design concepts and tools. Specific goals of the bridge programs include introducing math expectations of engineering program in the areas of College Algebra, Pre-calculus, and help students eliminate the math gap by passing the COMPASS Test as well as the Pre-calculus Test in the summer to get ready for Calculus I in the coming fall semester. The long-term goals of the ESB program aim to improve the first- and second-year retention rate and four-year graduation rate of UTB engineering majors. Study on the previous three year’s data suggests that, compared to the overall average of the students enrolling into the UTB engineering program at the same period, summer bridge program participants have statistically started and finished their Calculus I (thus becoming engineering math ready) earlier. Participants also demonstrated higher engineering interesting which was proved by the participation rate in introductory engineering projects in the first two years of their engineering study. Besides, 88% of surveyed students reported that the program was helpful and convenient, and 100% of surveyed students reported that they would recommend the summer bridge program to a friend or a fellow student. Comparison of the first- to second-year active engineering student rate also suggests the validness of the summer bridge program.

Abstract Final-year high school students are faced with a difficult decision when selecting their undergraduate major of choice. Often, the decision is made even more difficult by uncertainty about what different majors entail. Petroleum engineering in particular is a discipline that is generally not explored within high school classrooms and therefore students lack understanding about the roles of engineers in the oil and gas industry. To combat this uncertainty, this paper explores the potential of running pre-college project-based learning programs to increase high school students’ interest in and familiarity with pursuing various undergraduate STEM disciplines and careers. More specifically, this paper provides an insight into two case studies of novel STEM education programs, developed to enhance a group of high school students’ understanding of petroleum engineering. The programs were designed to increase students’ interest in learning about the selected petroleum engineering concepts, namely polymer flooding to enhance oil recovery and multiphase fluid flow in porous media, while simultaneously providing an understanding of the current global challenges faced by the oil and gas industry. The program also aimed to engage students in learning and applying fundamental engineering skills to relatable real-world issues. These project goals will help facilitate the desire, commonly seen in recent years, of developing countries to increase their oil and gas production. This program was applied during the Summer Engineering Academy program offered by Texas A&amp;M University at Qatar, which provides an innovative educational space for high school students. The program was conducted with the main objective of allowing the students to understand the basic concepts of petroleum engineering via short lectures as well as laboratory experimentation. Students in Grades 9-11 spent 10 days learning about petroleum engineering applications that integrated science, engineering, and technology where they designed, built, and tested an experimental setup for understanding various processes in petroleum engineering. Students were expected to solve a common problem faced in the petroleum industry. At the end of the program, the students gained an understanding of the issues and recommended unique solutions to these problems in the form of oil-recovery based projects presented to a panel of experts. This program attempted to build bridges between the STEM education pipeline of rapidly developing countries, such as Qatar, and the new demand for talent in the oil and gas sector. The details of this novel program are presented, including the content, preparation, materials used, case studies, and the resulting learning outcomes.

College grades represent summative assessments that are traditionally used to evaluate the levels of student learning. In the present study we examine the relative impact of individual variables and learning environment (LE) on student grades. The individual variables included in the present study are: school attendance, student learning efficacy, and behavioural intentions. The LE variables are: perceived justice, social identification, learning context, and organizational citizenship behaviour. Participants comprised 201 students enrolled in a mid-size university in Norway. The individual predictors explained 30% of the variance in actual grades, with self-efficacy beliefs (β = .16, p &amp;lt; .05), non-mandatory school attendance (β = .25, p &amp;lt; .01), intentions to get a specific grade (β = .23, p &amp;lt; .01), and intentions to quit studying (β = .19, p &amp;lt; .01) as significant predictors. The LE variables explained zero % (0%) of the variance in actual grades. None of the included LE variables emerged as significant in the final step of the regression analysis. The central point in the discussion is dedicated to the somewhat surprising finding that none of the LE variables contributed to explained variance in actual grades. The implications and limitations of the present work would also be discussed.

The phenomenon of globalization that concerns the modern era, pushed by technological evolution, has led to several changes in the field of education. Not only are education policies of the single States adapting by directing towards European models: the possibility for a student to choose a university is increasing all over the world, too. In order to facilitate students who want to enroll at a European university and who come from countries with less than 12 years of compulsory schooling, our University designed the Foundation Programme. This is an additional year that allows to earn 60 ECTS to reach the 12 years of schooling, a basic requirement for university access in Europe. The main feature of this project is that it is delivered online; this allows to reduce the costs of enrollment and allows students to attend it directly from home in their country. The design, structure and methodologies of the project are described and discussed in this article.

This paper is a small-scale research study done by the author. It seeks to find the perceptions of students attending an alternative learning centre,with an emphasis on vocational education, with regards to their learning. This study is situated on the island of Malta and the five students interviewed currently attend this school, which opened in 2014, and is the only one of its kind on the island. The main results obtained are that, on the whole, the students are happy to attend this school. They drew comparisons between their school life in the previous four years of secondary education in the mainstream college and in the alternative learning centre. They enjoyed the lessons because they were learning the subjects that they wanted to learn, they enjoyed the small class size,and the individual attention. They felt part of a big family and appreciated the fact that the teachers genuinely cared for them. They also mentioned things that should be improved, like more resources for the classrooms and a major renovation of the school building. The conclusion drawn here is that while the students are happy, care must be taken so that the concerns raised are addressed.

Aim/Purpose: To measure the change in team skills resulting from team projects in professional and graduate school courses, a pilot study was conducted among students in two courses in a graduate school of business and one in the pharmacy school of the same institution of higher learning. This pilot study evaluated (a) students receiving training and practice in working as part of a classroom team were able to translate the formal training into the belief they had improved routine team interactions and experienced benefits from the intervention, and (b) determine whether changes in perceived team skills acquired by graduate business students differed from those of pharmacy school students. Background: This pilot study examined the usefulness of adding a teamwork skills module imported from a graduate school of business to increasing team skills in a pharmacy curriculum. Methodology: Thirty-five students (22 in a graduate school of business and 13 in a school of pharmacy) took a survey comprised of 15 questions designed on a 5-point scale to self-evaluate their level of skill in working in a team. They were then exposed to a seminar on team skills, which included solving a case that required teamwork. After this intervention the students repeated the survey. Contribution: As the pharmacy profession moves to be more integrated as part of inter-professional healthcare teams , pharmacy schools are finding it necessary to teach students how to perform on teams where many disciplines are represented equally. The core of the pharmacy profession is shifting from dependence on the scientific method to one where team skills are also important. Findings: The small size of the pilot sample limited significance except in the greater importance of positive personal interaction for business students. Directional findings supported the hypothesis that the business culture allows risk-taking on more limited information and more emphasis on creating a positive environment than the pharmacy culture given its dependence on scientific method. It remains moot as to whether directly applying a teaching intervention from a business curriculum can effectively advance the team skills of pharmacy students. Recommendations For Practitioners: Educators in professional schools such as pharmacy and medicine may find curricular guidance to increase emphasis on learning teamwork skills. Recommendations for Researchers: Researchers are encouraged to explore cross-disciplinary exchanges of teaching core business skills. Impact on Society : The question is posed that as pharmacy schools and the pharmacy profession integrate more into the business of pharmacy whether this difference will close. Future Research: A full study is planned with the same design and larger sample sizes and expanding to include students in medical, as well as pharmacy classes.

This paper details improvement of the Engineering Summer ridge (ESB) program at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV). Here we provide some of our experiences to fine-tune the program depending on the student need. Initial goal of ESB program was to challenge the freshman students intellectually, improve student communication and socialization skills, and provide student an early introduction to the University expectations and culture. The students who are graduating from the high school has lack of these qualities and the ESB program at UTRGV prepares engineering students to cultivate these qualities and to meet the challenges of University requirements. First-year college students require developmental education in Reading, Writing, or Mathematics will become “college-ready” in those subject areas through the ESB program. In our 2017 ESB program, we focused mostly with the Calculus-ready component. Specific goals of our ESB program include improving the College algebra and Pre-calculus level math expectations, and help students eliminate the math gap by passing the COMPASS Test as well as the Pre-calculus Test by UTRGV math department in the summer to get ready for Calculus I in their first semester. Study to the six-year tracking data suggests that, participants in ESB program demonstrated higher engineering interests. Improvement of engineering math readiness and overall the success rate in the selected engineering major will be presented in this paper.

The University College Cork (UCC) Open Arboretum Project aims to re-imagine the original purpose of the University’s tree collection – as a teaching tool. The arboretum represents a unique on-campus learning space which has been under-utilised for teaching in recent times. The arboretum has the capacity to engage students, staff and visitors in a tangible way with important global issues (e.g. the climate emergency and biodiversity loss). It is also an opportunity to combat ‘plant blindness’, i.e. the ambivalence shown to plants in our environment compared to often charismatic animal species. Wandersee and Schussler (1999) coined the term “plant blindness” to describe the preference for animals rather than plants that they saw in their own biology students. Knapp (2019) has argued that, in fact, humans are less ‘plant blind’ and more ‘everything-but-vertebrates-blind’ with school curricula and television programming over-emphasising the role of vertebrates at the expense of other groups of organisms. Botanic gardens and arboreta have long been used for educational purposes. Sellman and Bogner (2012) have shown that learning about climate change in a botanic garden led to a significant shortterm and long-term knowledge gain for high-school students compared to students who learned in a classroom setting. There is also evidence that learning outside as part of a science curriculum results in higher levels of overall motivation in the students and a greater feeling of competency (Dettweiler et al., 2017). The trees in the UCC collection, like other urban trees also provide a range of benefits outside of the educational sphere. Large, mature trees, with well-developed crowns and large leaf surface area have the capacity to store more carbon than smaller trees. They provide shade as well as food and habitats for animal species as well providing ‘symbolic, religious and historic’ value in public common spaces. Such benefits have recently been summarised by Cavender and Donnolly (2019) and aligned with Sustainable Development Goal 11, Sustainable Cities and Communities by Turner-Skoff and Cavender (2019). A stakeholder survey has been conducted to evaluate how the tree collection is currently used and a tour of the most significant trees in the collection has been developed. The tour encourages participants to explore the benefits of plants through many lenses including recreation, medicine and commemoration. The open arboretum project brings learning beyond the classroom and acts as an entry point for learning in a variety of disciplines, not least plant science and environmental education generally.

As K12 computer science education is expanding nationwide, school districts are challenged to find qualified computer science teachers. It will take many years for schools of education to produce a sufficient number of certified computer science teachers to meet the demand. In the interim courses like Exploring Computer Science (ECS) can fill the gap. ECS is designed to provide a robust introduction to computer science and the accompanying professional development is structured such that a college level understanding of computer science is not required. This brief summarizes research with 20,000 Chicago Public Schools high school students and their teachers to test the claim that the ECS professional development can provide an adequate preparation for teaching ECS. The results provide strong evidence that full completion of the ECS professional development program by teachers from any discipline leads to much higher student outcomes, independent of whether a teacher is certified in computer science.